Posts Tagged ‘friends’
Sweet Retreat
It feels a little like home, having climbed a spiral staircase to the loft, where our assigned sleeping quarters awaited. After an enticing evening under the moonlight on the deck, sitting around the fire with friends old and new, we slept soundly until well past our usual waking hour.
There was no Delilah to whine the typical call of our mornings. We are in the gorgeous Chippewa National Forest, among the songs of loons, at Barb & Mike’s (Mike of Wilkus Architects) custom designed and built lake cabin. A delectable sweet retreat.
The view when we woke up this morning.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Sad Quiet
Last night when Cyndie stepped out to walk Delilah before bedtime, I became aware of how empty and quiet the house seemed, despite the whirr of the overhead fan and the evening drone of chirping insects resonating beyond the screen door. It was far from silence, but it had a way of pointing out how otherwise silent it was.
Monday afternoon, our friend Dunia departed for her home in Guatemala, ending our stretch of what felt like a 2-week vacation adventure, even though most of it happened at our house. The long-distance separation from our dear friends causes a real bittersweetness when it comes time to say goodbye.
The sky was a cloudy gray when I got home from work, as I took Delilah down to the barn to feed the horses and linger with the herd. I got the sense they were missing Dunia, too, even though it had only been a matter of hours for them.
Delilah and I moved on after a while and walked many of our trails, coming upon a few photo opportunities. Despite her lack of interest in my pausing, she politely occupied herself while I worked the angles and light.
Over dinner, Cyndie and I watched a rented movie and then sat together in the quiet, puttering away on separate projects, surrounded by the void of missing companions.
I’m guessing there was also an element of fatigue lingering in the aftermath of the busy weekend filled with the activity and people here for training sessions. We’ll catch our breath and absorb all that’s happened recently, in hopes of conjuring up plans for the next offering sometime this fall.
I hesitate to face it, but fall is so close it is beginning to impact our weather already. My favorite weather blog is predicting an October-like storm moving in today.
It’s probably a good thing that Dunia got out of here when she did, even though her departure has left us with that sweet sorrow of parting. I wonder how much it would cost to fly our horses with us to visit the Morales family in Guatemala again.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Mutual Support
We have received a lot of support from our neighbors, George and Rachael Walker in the time we have been here. They have provided us with meat and eggs from a share in their CSA farm, cut and baled our hay, George trims our horse’s hooves, and Rachael has provided riding lessons. We welcomed an opportunity to finally offer support to them in return.
Yesterday, we went over to learn the details of feeding their variety of horses so that we can “farm-sit” while they are away for a few days over the weekend. Most of their animals will be set up with enough food for all three days, so it is just horses that will be our primary responsibility. Still, I found the process of feeding some of the other animals equally fascinating.
The pigs eat anything and everything. Rachael found a stash of eggs that had been secreted away in some nook, so she tossed them to the pigs. Mixed in with the pulverized corn that had already been served, it looked like a baking accident had spilled in there. The pigs took to it like… pigs.
I didn’t see the ducks getting fed, but they put on a nice show of their dark colors, strutting their stuff in the yard. It had me wondering how we might ever condition our dog, Delilah to accept the presence of poultry on our property without assuming they were put there for her to eat.
I’d like to have some ducks and chickens as assistants in controlling the fly populations around here.
After animals were all fed, and George finished cutting one of their hay fields, we joined them for dinner at the nearby El Paso Bar & Grill. I ate fried cheese curds, and other ill-advised choices at an unusually late hour, and stayed out way past my bedtime. It was wonderful.
George and Rachael are a joy to be with, and we feel ever more connected to community as we grow more familiar. Being able to offer them some support contributes greatly to that feeling of connection.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cultivating Authenticity
In the everyday reality of each passing moment, we are constantly choosing, consciously or otherwise, our personal energy, which we project outward to every living being in our vicinity. For decades of my life, my energy was unconsciously that of a depressed individual. Sometimes it was encased within a facade of “I’m okay,” but the supposed ‘okay’ me was not whole.
In the years since I began managing my depression, I have continually discovered new levels of awareness about my mind and body. In the very normal fluctuating rates of change and growth, there are periods that stand out. The recent days of preparation for the visit from our friends, the Morales family, and the splendid excitement of our time together again after they arrived, have generated a terrific boost of energy for Cyndie and me.
Granted, we are all a bit drained from lack of sleep, due to all the fun we have had, but that is a recoverable circumstance. We are feeling a significant surge of progress toward crafting the framework of how we might best express the essence of the growth and learning we want to make available at Wintervale Ranch. Dunia and Marco Morales have helped immensely with inspiring this surge.
In the wee hours yesterday morning, Marco and their sons began the long day of travel, flying back to their home in Guatemala. Dunia is spending another week here to work with Cyndie and our horses, and help lead some training sessions.
When I pulled up the driveway yesterday after work, I spotted Cyndie and Dunia in the arena space, along with our neighbor, Rachael Walker, who was providing her counsel and guidance in getting the horses ready for Cyndie to begin riding again. For the first time since the horses arrived here, and 10-months after a hip replacement, Cyndie was back in the saddle.
With our horses as guides, I am discovering new insights about cultivating authenticity.
These feel like noteworthy milestones for us on this journey of creating Wintervale Ranch to become the place we have imagined.
Having written that, it comes to mind that I have a sense from the horses that they have been patiently allowing us to take all the time we needed to reach these milestones, while they have been ready and available all the while.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Guest Photos
Cyndie and a few of our party guests have shared some photos from our summer celebration extravaganza. They save me coming up with words today…
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Summer Celebration
The weather held! In the morning yesterday, radar indicated rain showers were moving past just north of our county, and hours later, just south of us. We stayed dry the whole time. That allowed us to set up for our gala gathering of friends and family to party and picnic throughout the afternoon and evening.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Our friend, Marco, went above and beyond the call of duty and stood over the hot flaming grill to cook enough brats to feed an army, even though he and his family were the guests of honor. Eventually he snagged an opportunity to wash up and return to enjoy the epic social extravaganza.
High school friends rallied and assembled a superb ensemble of guitar, keyboards, bass, & drums for amplified live music over the lawn. There was dancing on the deck.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
People brought incredible contributions of food and some excellent yard games. Passing through the line to fill a plate was not a one-time occurrence, because new dishes kept appearing that demanded attention. I faced the unsolvable challenge of wanting to be down at the barn, up by the house, with folks at the labyrinth, or guiding them on our trails, all at the same time.
At the end of the night, Cyndie was able to fill me in on some of the grand excitement I missed. She and I were in two different places for almost the entire time, so our combined experience paints a better picture of the whole event. Sounds like the horses were a big hit with people, young and old. Cyndie and Dunia went with the flow of energy and ended up doing precisely what they had planned to avoid, by allowing people to have turns inside the paddock to interact with individual horses.
As I suspected, I had to rely on visitors to experience the details of our place under their own initiative. I received enough reports from people that they had walked the labyrinth or explored trails to feel satisfied that they were getting a pretty good sample of what life is like here at this time of year.
It ended up being a classic summer afternoon and evening, perfect for the fun and frolic we had in mind. I sense that it would be safe to say, a good time was had by all.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It’s Today!
The day of our spectacular event to celebrate summer at Wintervale is upon us. We are mostly ready for guests to arrive this afternoon. There are just 368 things left to do. I’m sure we will have a very relaxed morning, lounging around after finishing everything with time to spare.
We drove home from the lake yesterday and had enough time to get some mowing done and take a few first steps toward preparing. Unfortunately, there was another gully-washer of a rainstorm while we were gone and it washed away some of our new lime screenings and pushed the sand out of our round pen.
Two steps backward for our one step forward last week.
I need to do some landscaping above the round pen to divert the water before it gets a chance to run through the new sand.
For every accomplishment we achieve, there tends to be an additional step that also deserves attention.
Today, that will be shelved for a later time. We will be doing our best to focus on the precious friends who are driving long distances to see Wintervale and celebrate summer with us and our guests, the Morales family from Guatemala. There will be music, food, sunshine (possibly through clouds), horses, our dog Delilah, fields and forest trails awaiting our visitors.
I will be trying to find a way to help folks figure out where to park, and doing my best to spend as much time as possible with every person who shows up. Despite my desire to tell visitors every story I have about our place, it will serve me well to figure out short versions and parse them out sparingly.
People will pick up the gist of what we have going on at Wintervale by the experience of simply being here. The property and our horses will tell enough of the story to accomplish what I wish them to know. I would like to relax, enjoy the moment, and let people discover whatever is theirs to discover.
I hope I remember to take some pictures…
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Laying Low
After enjoying a perfect afternoon of lake activity weather on Wednesday when we arrived, things shifted a bit yesterday. The morning was mostly cloudy and there was a steady breeze out of the south, but it was pretty obvious that rain would eventually develop. Planned activities had appropriately been adjusted, and Marco and his sons went to a local golf course with Cyndie’s dad, while Dunia and Cyndie plotted a course of shopping in the surrounding area.
That left me free to spend time putting together a playlist of background music for our summer celebration event tomorrow, before eventually succumbing to a nap that came calling in the quiet of the empty house.
When the golfers returned, the boys headed down to the water, even though it was just starting to rain. Older brother, Marco, managed to lose his GoPro camera in the lake, which led to some creative effort toward retrieving it. The weather hampered their success, so the recovery plan is now hinging on hopes for better conditions to prevail this morning.
We settled on some darts before dinner and then played cards after the meal. For me, the day mostly amounted to a relaxing rest from needing to do any particular activity. I was laying low in preparation for the final push of effort to be ready for our party tomorrow.
We will drive home sometime today, and I will begin the process of mowing grass as soon as possible after we arrive. I’m looking forward to the end of getting ready for the party, and finally enjoying the actual event.
There is just one day left in the count down.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Fabulous Time
What is the deal? Is my camera broken or something? I haven’t taken any pictures for two days, so I can offer no visual proof that our friends, the Morales family, have arrived, or that we have already had so much fun being with them again that little else is receiving our attention.
The one exception turns out to be my stealing any spare second to get after the never-ending task of mowing or trimming grass. I now have just one section of fence left to be mowed before having that whole job complete. I’m planning to sneak that in early this morning before packing up to head to the lake for a couple of days.
We decided to drive two of our cars up there to give me the option of returning earlier than others on Friday to enable me to —can you imagine this?— mow all the lawn grass in preparation for the big knock down, drag out shebang we have scheduled for Saturday night.
Some years the grass growth slows around here in late July and August so I don’t have to mow as frequently, but this year I’m finding that it looks like I need to mow again after just a couple of days. When I wait a whole week, enough grass clippings are created to make me think I should have George bring over his baler.
We are having a fabulous time with our precious friends. Despite their late arrival on Monday night, which had us getting to bed around 3:00 in the morning yesterday, we made it to Hudson in the afternoon for a brief moment of shopping, and a fine patio lunch overlooking the St. Croix river at Pier Five Hundred restaurant.
Later, after a stint of grass trimming, both along the fence and in the labyrinth, George and Rachel Walker joined us for dinner. Marco graciously accepted Cyndie’s invitation to grill steaks, which turned out perfectly delicious. Poor Delilah doesn’t have a clue what happened to her usual sleeping routine the last two nights, as we lingered around the table after the meal, sharing stories and laughter well-past her usual bedtime.
Today, we leave her behind to be cared for by friends for a couple days while we will all be visiting with Cyndie’s parents up at the lake place in Hayward. With any luck, I’ll remember to take a few pictures of the frivolity expected to ensue.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Good Progress
I’m not quite done with everything I dreamed of doing over the weekend, but I certainly made good progress toward that goal. I would like to finish trimming the weeds along the wood fence of the paddock, and then I’m satisfied that the most visible areas of the ranch look pretty well maintained.
Why do I want it to look good? We’ve got company coming! Our friends from Guatemala, the Morales family, will be arriving around midnight tonight. Then, on the following Saturday, we are hosting a rockin’ party, with an open invite to friends, family, co-workers, and varying levels of acquaintances to come celebrate summer with us and meet our guests.
A number of those who have indicated they plan to come will be seeing our place for the first time. We want it to look nice!
Yesterday, I finished spreading the remainder of the pile of lime screenings, using the bucket on the tractor. It just reached the point where I had done all the tricky parts by hand and needed to finish quickly in order to move on to the next job. The tractor worked well for me this time. I left the horses in the paddock and they patiently tolerated the racket of my back and forth effort on the machine.
While I had the big tractor out, I used the brush mower to knock down some excessive weed growth that the horses have been avoiding in the space between their paddock and the arena area.
I also did some trimming with the power trimmer, tightened all the wires on our fences, cleaned the entry to my shop, swept up the grass clippings on the lawn using the grass catcher pulled behind our lawn tractor, and tended to the daily manure management chore.
In the middle of the day, Julian arrived to help me record a vocal track for a project to which I had been recruited. His mad skills on the recording software allowed us to quickly create a version that was very well received by the person who requested it of me.
It was a long day for me. In order to get it all done, I got up early and then worked through the dinner hour. Getting back to the day-job today will feel like a day of rest, even if it is busy there.
Busy at the office is nothing like busy on the ranch, you know.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Relative Something 